The Spark that Lights the Fire
by Aurora Musis Amica
Summary: Kaidan goes to the Ascension Project to recruit biotics for his spec-ops team. Unfortunately, they happen to be Jack's kids, and the irresistible force has some things to say on the topic.


"Where the hell do you think you're going with my kids!?"

They'd gotten as far as the inner airlock of Grissom's docks before Jack finally caught up to them, her students carrying their own bags, the damn thief looking damn annoyed that she'd caught him red-handed.

"Told you she'd find out," Mai-Ling quipped quietly.

"Yes, you did." He sighed. "Go on to the shuttle, Corporal Zhang will show you where to stow your gear."

"Yes, sir." Mai-Ling waved to Jack, looking guilty and torn, and Johan gave her a sloppy scout salute. And then she watched them slip through her fingers, _her_ kids walking out of her life.

Fat chance.

"Listen, asshole. Those are my kids. _Mine._ I want you to back the fuck off."

Usually her direct approach got people angry, or scared. Not this guy. He just shook his head at her. Bastard. "I've recruited them for a different mission, which is classified. They're not in the Ascension Project any more. If that will be all?"

Of course they weren't. If they were, they wouldn't be going to who-the-fuck knew where. "No, I'm not fucking done with you- Hey..." she slowed, something clicking. "You're the asshole from Horizon."

He'd started to walk away, insulting her by showing her his back, but now he turned slowly, taking another look at her. She crossed her arms, making sure the spikes on the jacket were forward, imagining poking his eyes out for the measuring gaze he ran over her.

"Yes, that's me. Nice jacket," he noted with a shrug.

"Fuck you."

"...right. If there's something we need to discuss, how about you contact me when you're done throwing your temper tantrum?" With that he dismissed her from his attention, and started walking towards the airlock again.

_Temper..._

Jack flared.

It was instinctive. Always was when she was angry. Then she very intentionally gripped her fucking flare and prepared to throw a big ugly shearing field to paint the walls with him. "You just hold it right there!"

And now, she reveled, _now _she had his attention. _Ignore this, bastard._

He didn't. He couldn't. He spun, fast as if she'd shot a gun at him, slipping into an alien biotic combat stance-

-And flared, drowning his side of the airlock in negative light, dark energy tendrils dancing and snapping.

_Shit._ That guy wasn't from some second exposure with a piddly wimp's safety-first implant like most old guys. He was way too fucking strong for that. She could tell. She'd always been able to tell someone's raw power when they flared close to her. Something in the way the corona felt against hers, in the tingle running up her spine to her port.

Not quite as strong as her, but she wasn't stupid. When it was in spitting distance like this, you didn't bet on any damn outcome because it would come down to skill, not ability to barrel your way through defenses. One move you didn't see coming and _bam_.

And the fucker was just watching her. Wary, hands up in the deceptive ready-stance you could start almost any mnemonic from, not moving, waiting for her to make a play.

She still wanted to throw the punch that tingled in her fingertips. Still _wanted_ to unleash everything she had and make more bloodstains on the floor. It wasn't about taking a _calculated risk_ or anything as fancy as that. It was about power. She could beat him. He was taking her kids, he was an ass. He was asking for it.

Or she could get beaten. It happened. She lived. Punched back once she'd scraped herself off the floor.

But she wasn't stupid. And this wasn't an alley on a backwater colony, or a high security jail, it was a fucking _school._ One she was invited to.

She took a breath, counted backwards from 10 skipping a few numbers, then took a step backwards out of punching range and released her flare, feeling exposed and empty like she did every time. "Alright man, chill out."

It was like stepping off a cliff without checking what was below. She expected it to backfire, burned too many times to trust anyone to back down when they had the advantage over her.

But the f- guy just took a step back, dropped out of his fighting stance – fucking soldier – and let go of his flare, too. And then the bastard nodded approvingly, like he'd just seen her perform a damn trick and was proud of her. "Chilling. I don't want a fight."

"Good for you," she said coolly, making sure the guy knew she'd backed down because she'd chosen to, not because he'd intimidated her or anything. "But you're still not taking my-"

Suddenly the door hissed open and a thud of boots made her spin around, and she almost flared again, but cooled as soon as she recognised Sanders at the front of a small security force that eyed the two biotics cautiously, tasers out, trying to get a read on the problem. Sanders' head darted quick glances between Jack and soldier-guy.

"Oh, thank god," she said, breathing out like she'd been running and holding her breath at the same time. "Major Alenko, Jack? Is... err...?"

"Everything's alright, Lieutenant Sanders," soldier guy said almost immediately, "I apologise for the disruption."

And then he launched into a whole pile of pleasantries thanking her for her hospitality and yada yada, you couldn't tell he'd been ready to smack some skulls a minute ago. At least he didn't pin this on her. Decent enough of him.

But Kahlee was eating it all up, of course.

Jack sighed. So much for that. She wasn't even sure she knew what she'd hoped to change. _...fuck._

Security filed out through the door they'd come from, eyeing her as they did. She made them nervous, which was fine with her. She was going to go, too, once they were far enough ahead of her, but major whatever's voice interrupted her.

"Ms. Nought?" Sounded like he was done sucking up to Kahlee and trying it on her instead.

"What?"

"I won't apologise for doing my duty, and I'm not asking you to like it. But if you were with Shepard, then you know what's coming..."

She did. The shit she'd seen on the other side of the Omega 4 relay. It hadn't scared her straight. But it had made her think. "...yeah. I know."

"Officially, we're covert ops, but biotics division's true purpose is ground counters against Reaper forces. Johan and Mai-Ling are ready now. The rest of your students still need a lot more practice. We can't afford the wait."

"The hell they're ready to fight for real." She'd taught them a lot, but sparring wasn't life-or-death.

"I'm not taking them just to throw them away," he said reassuringly. "We're not going out into the field unprepared. There's going to be plenty of combat training. But their biotics are at the point where they need experience in actual conditions to improve."

"Yeah." He was pretty right about that.

"You've taught them well. Hasn't she? You can come out, you know," he said, and Jack realised it was her kids stepping back out the airlock.

Mai-Ling looked between them with exaggerated big eyes. "Mom, dad, are you done fighting?"

The comical look on the guy's face as he stared incredulous between Mai-Ling and Jack was probably not that far from her own.

"Know what? You can have em," she said, which got a chuckle out of soldier-guy. But she still pointed at her kids and barked, "Behave you two," at them, because that was the kind of shit responsible people did.

"No ma'am, we're gonna kick ass!"

**Even better.**


End file.
